About the Roman Catholic Church

Excluding homosexuals
from Catholic seminaries

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Overview:

A Vatican document of 1961 bars persons with homosexual orientation from
ordination and religious vows. However, this document appears to have been
almost completely ignored. 1

A new, ambiguously worded "instruction" dated
2005-NOV appears to restrict most persons who have a homosexual orientation,
whether sexually active or celibate, from entering seminary in the future.
Its effect on ordination of homosexuals who are currently in seminaries is unclear.

The basis for the Vatican's position appears to be
its belief that:

A homosexual orientation is "objectively
disordered and often constitute a trial" for the person.

It is rarely, if ever, changeable.

Persons with a homosexual orientation should
not be unjustly discriminated against. However, some forms of discrimination
are justified.

A person with a homosexual orientation who
engages in a same-sex act is committing a grave sin -- one that is
intrinsically immoral and contrary to natural law. It does not matter
whether the act is a "one night stand" or is activity within a loving,
committed relationship.

A homosexual orientation is one of three
normal, natural, unchosen and unchangeable sexual orientations for adults --
the others being heterosexual and bisexual orientations.

No form of discrimination is justified on the
basis of sexual orientation.

Homosexual, heterosexual and bisexual
orientations are morally neutral. The moral and mental health status of
sexual acts, whether same-sex or opposite-sex, is dependent on the nature of
the relationship, freedom from manipulation and coercion, and safety.

The document's covering letter received little attention in the media. It
stated that homosexuals may not have positions as seminary rectors or
professors.

Some definitions:

Terms like "Gay" and "homosexual,"
are ambiguous. We will most frequently use the rather awkward term "person with a homosexual
orientation," in this essay to avoid confusion. Such a person is sexually
attracted only to members of the same sex. They may be celibate or sexually
active. Roman Catholic spokesmen often use the term "inclination" or "tendency"
to apparently refer to one's orientation.

A "person with a bisexual orientation" is sexually attracted to both
men and women, but not necessarily to the same degree. Again, they may be
celibate or sexually active.

Earlier attempts to exclude persons with a homosexual orientation from the seminary:

1961: According to a Vatican document approved by Pope John XXIII
on 1961-JAN-23: "Advancement to religious vows and ordination should be
barred to those who are afflicted with evil tendencies to homosexuality or
pederasty, since for them the common life and the priestly ministry would
constitute serious dangers." 2 The document "was
promulgated by the Vaticanęs Sacred Congregation for Religious on February 2,
1961. The same document is published in its entirety, in English, in the Canon
Law Digest, Volume V (Bruce Publishing Co, 1963), pages 452 to 486."
3

The wording of the report is ambiguous, because it is not absolutely clear whether its use of the term "homosexuality" refers to the candidate's
sexual orientation or sexual behavior. Irrespective of which is the intended interpretation, this exclusion seems to be totally ignored at most
North American seminaries.

2002: In March, the chief spokesman for Pope John Paul II, Joaquin
Navarro-Valls, told The New York Times that better psychological
screening and upgraded training in church seminaries would do little to
reduce the number of priests with a homosexual orientation. He appears to
propose that homosexuals be refused ordination. He suggests that the church
become "less welcoming" of gays...People with these
inclinations just cannot be ordained. That does not imply a final judgment
on people with homosexuality. But you cannot be in this field." 4

2003: The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faithissued a document homosexuality was described
as a "troubling moral and social phenomenon'' The congregation at the time was headed by German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who became Pope
Benedict XVI in 2005.

"Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military
Services is organizing the work, which could continue into 2007. The
"visitors" include 117 bishops and seminary personnel, working in small
teams. Neither their names nor schedules are publicized. Their work is
confidential. They'll inquire into a seminary's "formation" program, the
training that prepares men - personally, intellectually, spiritually,
emotionally and communally - for a priest's life. They will include
questions about sex and chastity. Although just one question directly
touches on homosexuality, gays are a big undercurrent of the
visitation." 5

Vatican "instruction" of 2005-NOV:

The Vatican is scheduled to issue a document on NOV-29 concerning the
eligibility of homosexual candidates for seminary. However, a copy appears
to have been leaked on NOV-22 and posted on the Adista news agency. It is
called an "Instruction" and is five pages in length. It was signed by
the prefect and secretary of the Congregation for Catholic Education
and approved by Pope Benedict XVI on 2005-AUG-31. It has been many years in the
making.

It says, in part:

"Concerning profoundly deep-rooted homosexual tendencies, that
one discovers in a certain number of men and women, these are also
objectively disordered and often constitute a trial, even for these men
and women. These people must be received with respect and delicacy; one
will avoid every mark of unjust discrimination with respect to them.
These are called to realize the will of God in their lives and to unite
to the Sacrifice of the Lord the difficulties that they may encounter."

"The church, while deeply respecting the people in question, cannot
admit to the seminary and the sacred orders those who practice
homosexuality, present deeply rooted homosexual tendencies or support
so-called gay culture.''

"Those people find themselves, in fact, in a situation that presents
a grave obstacle to a correct relationship with men and women. One
cannot ignore the negative consequences that can stem from the
ordination of people with deeply rooted homosexual tendencies.''

"If instead it is a case of homosexual tendencies that are merely the
expression of a transitory problem, for example as in the case of an
unfinished adolescence, they must however have been clearly overcome for
at least three years before ordination as a deacon.'' 6

"If a candidate practices homosexuality or present profoundly
deep-rooted homosexual tendencies, his spiritual director, like his
confessor, must dissuade him, in conscience, from proceeding towards
Ordination."

"It would be gravely dishonest if a candidate were to hide his own
homosexuality to enter, notwithstanding everything, to Ordination. An
attitude so inauthentic does not correspond to the spirit of truth,
allegiance, and availability that must characterize the personality of
he who believes to be called to serve Christ and His Church in the
priestly ministry." 7

Implications for candidates who wish to enter
seminary:

Their fate depends upon exactly how the Church interprets the key phrase: "those
who practice homosexuality, present deeply rooted homosexual tendencies or
support so-called gay culture.''

"...those who practice homosexuality" would apparently
include people with either a homosexual orientation or a bisexual
orientation who continue to engage in same-sex behavior or perhaps have only
become celibate in recent years.

Those who "present deeply rooted homosexual tendencies"
are more difficult to define. Essentially all mental
health and human sexuality professionals believe that an adult's sexual
orientation -- whether homosexual, bisexual or heterosexual -- is fixed. Every
adult's sexual orientation can be described as "deeply rooted." It is
their sexual behavior that is controllable; a person can decide to remain
celibate. If the Church interprets a person's sexual "tendencies" to mean
their sexual orientation, then few if any candidates with a
homosexual orientation could ever be knowingly admitted to any
seminary. Further, because their sexual orientation is fixed in
all or essentially all cases, they could not hope to be admitted
to seminary in the future, even if they had remained celibate for
years or decades. However, the phrase might imply that bisexuals
might be allowed in seminaries because their same-sex attraction
is moderated by their attraction to women and is thus not so
"deeply rooted."

Those who "support so-called gay culture" are even
more difficult to define. In some areas of the world, this might
include individuals of all sexual orientations -- homosexual, bisexual or heterosexual --
who advocate political change so that gays will no longer be
actively persecuted in their country. In the U.S. it might mean
anyone who advocates for same-sex
marriage or civil unions, for laws to prevent discrimination in employment
based on sexual orientation, for laws that would protect persons
of all sexual orientations from hate-crimes or for health insurance for
employees' same-sex partners and children.

We are surprised that the Vatican would come up with such vaguely worded
criteria for admission to seminary. As written, the instruction can be
interpreted in a variety of ways. Religion Link states:

"Some Vatican-watchers argue that the statement amounts to an
outright ban on gay men entering the priesthood. Others predict more of
a 'don't-ask-don't-tell' policy, leaving room for authorities to screen
out candidates who they feel are not appropriate. Another view is that
the policy will force gay men who want to be priests to either lie about
their orientation or repress it."

Thomas Plante is a psychologist who has had more than 15 years experience
evaluating prospective students applying to American seminaries. He said that
the Instruction would have an "enormous" ripple effect if followed. He
continued:

"Sexual orientation in almost all the evaluations I've done over 15 years
hasn't really mattered. Now what's coming out of the Vatican is that it
matters in a big way. That's a real challenge because we think that there
are many, many, many gay men who are fabulous priests." 8

The full, although unofficial, text is available online. 9

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Implications for existing seminary students:

Their status is unclear. The Instruction test states that it deals with the "...admission
or non-admission to the seminary and Holy Orders of candidates who have
profoundly deep-rooted homosexual tendencies." However, Section II, the
document goes further. It states:

"....this department, in agreement with the Congregation for Divine
Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, holds it necessary clearly to
affirm that the Church, while profoundly respecting the persons in question,
may not admit to the seminary and Holy Orders those who practice
homosexuality, show profoundly deep-rooted homosexual tendencies, or support
the so-called gay culture. One cannot ignore the negative consequences that
can stem from the ordination of people with deeply rooted homosexual
tendencies.....The negative consequences that may derive from the
Ordination of persons with profoundly deep-rooted homosexual tendencies
are by no means to by [sic] ignored." 8 [Emphasis ours]

One possible interpretation of this Instruction is that seminary officials
may be expected to be on the lookout for students with a homosexual behavior and
consider expelling them.

The Instruction's covering letter; further exclusions:

According to LifeSiteNews:

"A part of the Vatican's instruction on banning homosexuals from Catholic
seminaries that did not gain widespread media attention was a covering
letter accompanying it that specified that 'gay' men must not be allowed to
be seminary rectors or professors."

"Signed by Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, prefect of the education
congregation, and Archbishop J. Michael Miller, the congregation's
secretary, the letter specified that the instructions 'must be adhered to
faithfully,' a stipulation expected to rankle among North American and
European bishops who have long been accustomed to a creative interpretation
of obedience to Rome."

"The letter made it clear that although there are no current plans to
remove from ministry those homosexuals who have already been ordained, such
men cannot be allowed to participate in the formation of seminarians."

"The letter stated that as with all priests, they must continue in their
calling to celibate chastity but, 'Because of the particular responsibility
of those charged with the formation of future priests, they are not to be
appointed as rectors or educators in seminaries'." 13

Some responses to the Instruction:

Some comments posted by visitors to the Catholic World News web site are:

jchrysostom: "Profoundly
deep-rooted tendencies" = "no controlling legal precedent." This document,
to my myopic eye, not only leaves the door ajar, as some pro-homosexual
commentators claim, but has flung it wide open. The anticipation of this
document seems laughable.

Ignacio: "When it says: 'It
would be gravely dishonest if a candidate were to hide his own homosexuality
to enter, notwithstanding everything, to Ordination.' Does that mean that it
would be a mortal sin? If one commits a mortal sin in order to receive a
sacrament does one validly receive that sacrament? [Editors
comment: if a priest is not actually ordained, what is the status of the
congregation who receive the sacraments from the "priest?"]

dominic: "I was deeply
distressed that our Holy Mother Church has not reflected upon its own
historical consciousness in light of this controversy. The issues of
exclusion and lack of dialogue that mark this present dilemma have been part
of the many controversies in the history of the Church, which have
contributed to the inhumane treatment of people who are different from us.
Can events of the protestant reformation offer us clues to how we can solve
this problem through dialogue, rather than division."9

Impact of the priest shortage:

The United States is short of priests. Further, the priesthood is aging.
At the end of the year 2000 "The average age of diocesan priests in active
ministry in the United States is 59. For religious priests, it is 63.") 10 Another source gives the ages as 57 and
63 as of early 2003. 11 By
the end of 2005, these values may have increased by one or two years. Priests
who have resigned, retired or died are simply not being replaced. The Boston Globe
reported in 2003-MAY:

"Nationally, the number of new priests ordained each year has slowly
declined since peaking between 1965 and 1970, said Dean Hoge, a sociologist
at The Catholic University of America. Ordinations dropped by 7
percent in the 1980s and another 7 percent in the 1990s, with five to 10
seminaries closing each decade, he said. Seminaries are currently replacing
just 30 to 40 percent of priests who are retiring or resigning each year. "People
say the decline is over -- don't believe it," Hoge said. "There's no
reversing it in the short run."
12

By refusing to admit gays into seminary, and by refusing to ordain existing
gay seminary students, the priest shortage will become critical in a few years.
There might only be about 1 new priest for every 6 or 7 resigning or retiring
priests. Further, the rejection of persons with a homosexual orientation by
seminaries will probably demoralize existing homosexual priests; this could lead
to increasing numbers of resignations.

Many solutions have been suggested to reverse this trend:

Many nuns who feel called to the priesthood and would welcome the
opportunity to be trained and ordained to Holy Orders. But the Church
excludes them because of their female chromosome structure. Further the church
refuses to consider changing its position, and even prohibits discussion
on the matter among its theologians and clergy.

Many priests resign in order to marry. By allowing priests to marry,
more could be encouraged to remain in the priesthood. Discussion of this option is also
discouraged.

The church could continue to accept gay students into its seminaries, perhaps after more
intensive screening to confirm that they would be able to remain celibate
during their education and after ordination. However, this would require the
Church to reverse its 2005 decision.

Transfer a major part of priestly functions to the laity and deacons. However,
there are limits to the activities that they are permitted to perform.

The church could import large numbers of priests from Africa, South
America and other countries in the world where the number of priests is
increasing. However, this would rapidly cause a major change in the U.S. church's
culture.

"Vatican Document on Admitting Homosexual Men to Priesthood Released by
Italian News Agency. Affirms Church Teaching That Homosexuals Must Not be
Admitted to Seminaries," LifeSite, at:
http://www.lifesite.net/